It’s National Children’s Gardening Week from 25th May to 2nd June, which coincides with half term. This is a great time to swap out screen time for green time. There are so many benefits of gardening with children as Squires Garden Centres highlights in this article.

Here are a few simple gardening ideas to try this National Children’s Gardening Week…

Quirky Planters

You can transform unwanted items such as old wellies, shoes, tins and bottles into quirky plant pots. They look great and are a brilliant way to recycle unwanted items. Suttons gives the rundown on what flowers to sow this month: https://www.suttons.co.uk/flower-seeds/flowers-to-sow/may

Sew some fruit, vegetable and salad seeds

This is one of our Summer Holiday Challenges. Get some seeds that are suitable for sowing in the summer months and are easy to grow such as carrots, salad leaves, cucumbers, peas or pumpkins (which if sown May/June will be ready for Halloween). Let the kids prepare the ground, sow them, label them and care for them. Then look forward to harvest time! I find children are usually more open to eating/trying things they’ve grown themselves.

We’ve also planted some potatoes in the past.

Cress heads

An oldie, but a goodie. Remove the top of the eggs, leaving two-thirds intact. Wash the shells and carefully dry. Then decorate with felt tip pens. The usual is to draw a face to accompany the cress ‘hair’, but great creative! Next dampen some cotton wool balls in water and place one in each shell and then sprinkle some cress seeds on top. Put them in a sunny spot and in about 5-7 days it’ll be ready to harvest. Egg and cress sandwich anyone?

Encouraging wildlife into your garden

Plants provide food and shelter for wildlife. In previous years, we’ve scattered wild flower seeds and have done Beebombs, which attract butterflies, bees and other insects.

Flowering plants such as lavender, foxgloves and roses provide plenty of nectar. Birds love the humble daisy, and sunflowers are a big hit as we discovered for ourselves.

You could also add a Ladybird tower to attract this cheerful spotty bug to your garden as well as the other beneficial insects, which keep pesky aphids and greenfly at bay.

Grow sunflowers from seed

Who doesn’t love this cheery, bold and bright flower? They’re incredibly easy to grow and shoot up quickly. Now is the perfect time to sow seeds outdoors for blooms from June through to September. You can even plant a seed in an individual biodegradable pot containing a soil coin and start off indoors. The pot can then be planted directly into the ground outside when the sunflower is ready. The Big Sunflower Project has some handy hints and tips on the transition from indoor to outdoor.

Make a miniature terrarium – mini garden in a jar

We’ve not done this before, but it looks cute and fun!

• Use a clean glass jar such as a jam jar
• Add a layer of decorative stones and sand
• Top with soil
• Add moss on top that will act as grass
• Plant miniature plants or cuttings into your jar
• Get creative; add a small decorated rock or Lego characters, plastic figurines or animals

Similarly you can create a fairy or dinosaur garden. Simply sow flower seeds that are appropriate for the time of year and add decorative details such as a house, pebbles and mini ‘trees,’ and then add your figurines.

Happy gardening and please post any of your children’s’ gardening ideas or projects in the comments section below.

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Ideas for eliminating the January blues and banishing ‘Blue Monday’

Themed Film Nights

We always watch a lot of Christmas films in December, but after Boxing Day that’s it! To fill the void in January, pick a theme for each weekend, such as 1980s classics (I’m really enjoying re-visiting these with my kids) or comedies, and watch a series of films together. Don’t forget the popcorn and cozy blankets!

Plan a Future Trip

Research and plan a big day out, weekend away or even a family holiday. It’s something to look forward to and the anticipation and excitement of planning gives everyone a boost. We had a wonderful time plotting our route and stop offs for a European road trip. Not quite as far afield, but we’re excited about going on the City of London Mystery Adventure, which I got as a family present at Christmas. My mother-in-law coincidentally got me a voucher for another Mystery Guide so we’re thinking that we may head to Oxford for our next adventure and make a weekend of it.

January bakeoff

Get the cookbooks out and try out new recipes as a family. Bake some biscuits, make homemade pizzas or sausage rolls, be adventurous with an unfamiliar country’s cuisine or create a delicious dessert. Cooking together is a great activity plus you get to enjoy the results. I cherished our bake-alongs on Zoom with friends during lockdown.

Arts and Crafts

Gather some art supplies and bits and pieces from around the house – think spare buttons, bits of wrapping paper, ribbon, old cards – and get creative. You can paint, make crafts or even create a family scrapbook with photos and memories.

Games, Cards and Puzzles

Break out the games and cards and have a family games night. It’s something we do regularly. We have lots of favourite board games and play a variety of card games – including poker – but also like more active games.

The surprise hit of 2023/2024 is Chicken vs Hotdog. It’s a silly game, but so much fun, and kids and adults love it equally; it went down a storm at the New Year’s Eve party!

We’re also fans of jigsaws. It’s a great collaborative experience and actually very relaxing.

Home Spa Day

Relax together with a home spa day. Chill out, put your feet up, put on face masks and have some calming music in the background. You could add in some yoga, give massages and have an all round pamper. It’s also a good opportunity to pay attention to those winter chapped hands and lips.

Walks in January

There’s nothing nicer when it’s cold and crisp (and sunny if you’re lucky) than to rug up and head out for a nature walk. Exploring the winter landscape can be really refreshing. There’s still plenty to see even if it seems a barren time of year on the surface; if there’s snow so much the better. Our National Trust membership comes into its own.

Learn Something New in January Hobby Month

My eldest daughter started learning a bit of Italian with Duolingo last year. I want to get the rest of the family doing this too. Knitting is seeing a huge resurgence, and a lot of this could be down to its dopamine-releasing effect. Similarly crochet has become very popular. You could keep it even simpler and learn a new card game together.

Indoor Gardening

Start a windowsill garden with herbs or small vegetables. We did well with our Eden Greens Microgreen Grow Kit. It’s a great way to bring some green inside and maybe sprout an interest in gardening. You could get even more creative and make a miniature terrarium.

Become a Twitcher

The birds really need a helping hand at this time of year. Leaving food out will attract lots of feathered friends, which are fascinating to watch. The Big Garden Birdwatch, which is taking place the 26th to the 28th of January, is a great activity to take part in. As well as helping collect vital data about the UK’s bird population, it’s the perfect opportunity to take an hour out and get closer to nature.

Would love to hear your ideas; please share below!

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